Chapter Forty-Eight
Me: There is more art by ScarletEbon aka Gaminefans on her Deviant Art! This time it's of the now-deceased toad Ribik, the hyena Krynku and Armeil (the echidna, who's a good guy)
Krynku: She truly brought out the glorious warrior in me! I applaud her!
Me: Yes...in other news, I have big plans for the coming conclusion.
Tahra: Oh? What's that?
Me: I'll explain everything at the end of the chapter.
-- -- -- -- -- --
"Woo! What a (hic) party!" Regal whooped as he staggered back into Vera's room, since he was so inebriated. He flopped onto the bed, and began drawling out some demonic drinking song he had overheard.
"Regal…I know you're a party animal," Vera replied as she came in, "but don't you have work to be doing for your boss?"
"Nonsense, lovely…he can wait!" Regal beamed. "Now how about you c'mere and give me some sugar, toots!" Vera rolled her eyes. Despite the fact that she seemed to like her so-called pimp friend, she was not allowed to bed him or anyone else for that matter until she got her father's approval. It was something she was annoyed about frequently. All too often her boyfriends were either scared off by Nazo or he decided to feed their souls to the shadow soulless. Regal was lucky so far.
Unbeknownst to Regal, Vera was actually nearly a century old, having eaten a few young souls herself to keep her youth. She had many lovers over the decades, and only bedded someone once, and died soon after, and that was her first lover.
"You know what my father said…"
Regal groaned, and finally fell asleep. Now that the drunkard was out like a light, she could concentrate on other matters. She glanced at a stack of parchment on a nearby table then picked up a sheet and began to read it over. It was a report of the attack on Sylvania, dictating estimated damage, casualties and loot obtained in the raid. It was pretty boring, but one interesting detail caught her eye:
"Unknown dark purple hedgehog with black and red eyes caused great damage to our forces. Despite presence of dark energy emanations, assumed to be an enemy."
That hedgehog had to be Tahra, Regal's cousin. She had seen the girl at the dance that night. And the bat also remembered her father mentioning something called by human medical works as hadou syndrome. It was a mental disease, initially spawned by the Meteor Parasite itself. It turned all but the strongest-willed souls into heartless and cackling murderers. It must have been what the kid who escaped was injected with. Carriers directly injected with it could spread it with a touch, but never get the disease itself. This was quite interesting to her.
She continued to read the report, but she was interrupted by pulsations from her pendant. Daddy wanted to talk with her. She held the pendant next to her ear and established contact.
"Daddy, this is a bad time."
Nonsense, this is very important news.
"It better be…I'm doing work."
Behemoth, Leviathan and Ziz have awoken, and we've entirely lost track of those four hedgehogs…but we have new targets…
"Keep talking, pops…"
-- -- -- -- -- --
Krynku basked in the riches that his men had taken from the hallowed halls, homes and temples of Sylvania. Rings, holy relics, pottery, even tables…everything was laid in a pile in the hyena general's hut. It was a well-earned victory for the general. He could care less about his men. Many women had lost lovers, while others had lost brothers or sons. But he didn't care. The general had stopped caring years ago.
His moment of glory was interrupted by the sudden entrance of Haishin, who seemed annoyed at something. It soon became clear what it was.
"Where's my axe?" Haishin demanded, pointing at him. "Cough it up, hyena."
"Why should I?" Krynku protested childishly. "I earned it!"
"You promised that I could have my father's special axe after you sacked the city!"
"Oh," the general replied, "you should have known not to trust a hyena…did your parents teach you nothing?" He cackled at his ironic wit.
Haishin was now more annoyed than ever. "This isn't funny, hyena. Give it to me, or you'll have to answer to my shadow guardian." The aforementioned shadow guardian faded in behind the hedgehog and snarled ferociously. Though Krynku was not afraid, he decided to change his mind, out of amusement.
"Okay, I'll give it to you. You'll have to dig for it though."
Haishin said nothing, but merely snapped his fingers. The shadow creature dove into the pile and began digging around furiously, sending treasure everywhere and breaking many relics, much to the hyena's dismay. After a few minutes of this, the creature found said axe, and presented it to his charge.
"Thanks, general. I'll be off now," Haishin said with a grin. He had his little revenge, and now he had other matters to attend to.
-- -- -- -- --
"Owwww…not so hard," Sonic whined as Tahra landed a swift roundhouse kick to his left flank. It was the last of the designated sparring times on Akuma's strict training schedule. This was the four's first full day in Akuma's training realm, and it was going to be a long year.
"Sorry…can't help it," Tahra replied. "But that red slave driver says we have to do this with everything we have. How else can we end this mess? So, hit me with your best shot!"
"Alright then…" Sonic replied, but before he could actually attack, a bell sounded, indicated that the sparring time was over, as well as the day's training. They had been forced to do a wide assortment of tasks, from moving heavy boulders (to build strength) to practicing new techniques, both armed and unarmed. Tahra also managed to pick up Chaos Control quickly, much to everyone's delight. But now the time to rest had come, and the four were relieved.
Sonic and Tahra plopped down on their respective beds, which were across from each other. They were bruised, dirty and smelly from their intense workouts, and they were dead tired.
"Phew…what a day…and only three-hundred and sixty-four to go," Sonic groaned.
"At the very least…" Tahra added. They groaned simultaneously. As both lay there, sprawled on their beds, numb and sore all at once, a question somehow popped into Sonic's mind. It was a topic that he felt the need to discuss.
"Hey…I need to ask you something."
Tahra rolled over onto her side, facing Sonic. "Talking is about all I can do right now. Shoot."
"Have you ever wondered what things would be like if we never met?" Sonic asked. "Maybe none of this would have happened. Maybe the humans wouldn't have died."
The purple hedgehog sighed. "Don't be like that, Sonic. We only have so much control over the world around us. I'd say everything was written in stone when time began, but since we have no way of knowing what will happen, we might as well have free will. Look, I really don't want to pursue this topic further. I'm tired, and I bet you are as well."
Tahra stood up (with a great deal of effort) and started to leave, with heavy and tired footsteps. "I'm going to go and clean myself up in the shower. I don't want you peeking, Sonic, or I swear I'll convince Akuma to beat you within an inch of your life…got that?"
"Gotcha," Sonic said nervously. He knew what Akuma could do, and didn't want to go through that again. "Besides, I'll find the other shower anyway."
-- -- -- -- --
"It was a long day, wasn't it Amy?" Tahra asked as the two stood facing in opposite directions in the communal shower. They were pretty comfortable like this. There was no else around, and they always stood facing the wall.
"Yeah…" Amy replied. "Y'know, I was wondering if you felt anything particularly strong toward Sonic recently. I know you two are a couple…but I'm wondering if I'm approaching Shadow too strongly now. It's like I'm losing control of my emotions for Shadow…at least more so than usual."
"Do you think it's the air here? I had that problem when we came here too."
"I'm wondering if you-know-who is messing with our minds."
"…The Meteor Parasite? Yeah…I heard that he's been known to turn true love into abominable lust with ease. I wonder if the guys are being affected as well."
"I don't want to think about it," Amy replied, shaking off a fleeting vision of Eclipse and his disturbing yellow eyes. It would be a nightmare if Shadow were to decay into that state. "I think it's best if we keep our guard up around Sonic and Shadow for the time being."
"I'm all for that. Who knows what thoughts could be running through their heads?"
-- -- -- -- --
"I can feel him," Vahtri said excitedly. "Behemoth is near." The search for this great beast had taken the group almost nine days with no luck, so this news was very exciting to the group. Knuckles was the first to inquire about the creature's location.
"I can't tell for sure…" Vahtri answered. "But I can…"
But before she could finish, the ground began to rumble furiously, knocking anyone who had their feet planted on the ground. Charmy quickly took notice of a mountain not too far away, and it appeared that something was about to explode from the mountain.
"Guys…I think we found him…"
A second later, a huge hole was blasted out of the peak, and out came a creature of unbelievable size…there was no doubt that this was Behemoth. The creature seemed to be like a great hippopotamus made of stone and dirt, save its eyes, which were like massive rubies. It also had a mane, like a lion's composed of stone, and its teeth were like jagged diamonds. With three great leaps, it landed just in front of the group, making the ground rise, sending everyone on the ground up a few inches.
In a low, rumbling voice, Behemoth addressed the group, but kept his eyes on Vahtri.
"Ye who have found me and let me break my seal…I thank you…I am already aware of the dark threat upon us. I shall lend you my power."
"Thanks you…um…"
"There is no need." Behemoth then turned his gaze toward Knuckles. "Guardian of the Master Emerald, step forward." Knuckles did so, wondering why he was so important.
"Knuckles, I must, for the sake of all, discharge you of your burden of guarding the Master Emerald…for there is something your people have not spoke to you of…the true origins of that giant gem. I believe that the ex-Seraphim can answer for, since they have been the minions of its true creator for ages." Vahtri was now unnerved. Was her father one of these beings…the angels who took her mother away?
No…I can't be one of them…the girl dropped to her knees and began sobbing. I just can't be one of them…Eberon went over to console his stricken daughter, but she pushed him away and ran off into a pile of rubble.
"You guys do whatever you need to with Behemoth," Knuckles said. "I'll try and talk to her."
-- -- -- -- --
"Vahtri?" Knuckles called. He heard the girl sobbing from behind a rock wall. As he rounded the corner, he saw the girl, but somehow, she had managed to extend her angel wings, which she was using to hide herself in shame.
"Don't look at me! I'm a murderous freak!" the girl cried. Knuckles sighed with disappointment, and decided to try something else.
"I wouldn't love a murderous freak…no one would. But you aren't, okay? He's not like them, and that means you're not like them. Besides, I think the wings are a nice addition." His tone now turned more lovey-dovey, which was a little tough for him. "How about letting me in?"
Vahtri paused for a moment then opened up her wings a little, and Knuckles saw that her cheeks were black from tears, but she seemed to be smiling now. The red echidna smiled shyly, but went inside, and the wings closed up again.
"Hey, these things tickle!" Knuckles commented. Vahtri chuckled. Her red guardian always made her happy, even when he wasn't trying to. The two began nuzzling, and all seemed to be at peace…
-- -- -- -- --
Me: To make a long story short, the raid on the Meteor Parasite's lair will be far too graphic for a T rating. You have no idea just how twisted our seven-headed beast is.
Sonic: So…an M-rated director's cut?
Me: Yes. It will only be three or four chapters, though. I will post an abbreviated version for younger readers, though.
Regal: There will be big boobs in the director's cut, right?
Me: Perhaps, my fine pimpish friend,but definitely no nudity. That's against the site's policy.
Regal: You suck.
